Blog post: Online security
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Blog post: Online security
Scam pills have been around forever, and since the rise of slimming pills, many consumers have fallen victim to unscrupulous sellers who exploit the success of a few genuine products to push their cheap imitations and scam thousands of people desperate to lose weight.
Exposing these fraudsters is one of the reasons this site was created: to help you avoid falling for fake slimming pills and introduce you to safe, effective weight-loss supplements.
Scam pill manufacturers have set up various systems, some of them very convincing, to make you believe they’re selling a high-quality product.
Fortunately, through years of monitoring and investigating, we’ve learned to spot their scams, list them, and warn our readers so they know when someone is trying to sell them a fake pill or repeatedly charge their credit card.
Let’s look at some of the fraudulent techniques used by scam pill manufacturers to convince you that their pills work, or simply to trick you into giving them your bank details. We’ll also list the warning signs that should raise your suspicions…
By paying attention to these signs, which we’ll explain in detail, we hope you’ll avoid falling victim to these weight-loss scams and their salespeople.
This is a classic scam. Remember this:
You land on a site promoting a weight-loss product. The site looks professional, with images and ads referencing reputable brands or websites.
The scammers try to win your trust with testimonials from both famous and unknown people. Then… they offer you a “free trial” of their product with no obligation.
You click a button and are redirected to a page telling you that you only need to pay shipping fees (after all, they’re not going to pay postage for you!).
Since the shipping fees are usually trivial, you go ahead and enter your credit card or bank details…
Only then do you discover that you’ve been charged the full price of the product — and worse — you’ve unknowingly agreed to a recurring charge, often monthly.
You’ll then realize that you forgot to read the terms and conditions (T&Cs) for the so-called “free trial” (no one told you to, and those T&Cs are usually dozens of tiny paragraphs designed to discourage you from reading them).
A real nightmare!
Your bank can’t help (or reacts too late), and the seller ignores your calls and emails (if you even have their contact info).
Don’t fall for a pill scam!
CONCLUSION: If a seller really gave you and thousands of others a free trial of their product, they’d go out of business in no time. Simple logic!
NEVER “TAKE ADVANTAGE” of these free offers — avoid them like the plague! Free trials and samples are just traps to steal your money and always hide scam pills.
Update April 30, 2019: Finally, banks are starting to react! Here’s MasterCard’s official statement regarding Free Trial Offers.
MasterCard’s official statement regarding the rule change:
The rule change will require sellers to obtain the cardholder’s explicit approval at the end of the trial before any charges begin. To help cardholders decide, they will receive — by email or text message — the transaction amount, payment date, merchant name, and clear instructions on how to cancel the trial.
Searching on Google for a product review, clicking an ad or a link on a website, you might land on a fake site disguised as a legitimate weight-loss pill comparison site.
While there are many genuine comparison sites online that help consumers make informed choices, for every serious site, there are hundreds of bogus ones whose sole aim is to scam desperate buyers. These sites don’t offer real advice or comparisons — they focus on pushing their own products and emptying your wallet.
What you don’t know is that many of these fake review sites are created by the very manufacturers of the scam pills they’re supposedly reviewing.
Do you really think they’ll say anything negative about a product they’re trying to sell?
Of course NOT.
The same people behind poor-quality, counterfeit, or ineffective products operate these fake sites. They promote their product as THE solution to your weight problems.
This practice is both illegal and unethical — but sadly, it’s widespread.
To spot these fraudsters, look for how they overly praise their own product(s) while discrediting all competing products (even if those are recognized elsewhere as effective).
Nowhere will they disclose that they own the product or are being paid to promote it — which is both illegal and deceptive.
To prevent you from making the connection, they almost never display contact information. That’s another red flag.
So NEVER BUY diet pills from these fake review and comparison sites, or you’ll fall straight into a scam.
This is one of the most common — and hardest to detect — scamming methods online.
You’ll be shown glowing testimonials from supposed customers who claim impressive results after using a slimming pill.
These testimonials — whether text, photos, or videos — are completely fake.
Text testimonials are nearly impossible to verify. Most are written by the site owners themselves.
But watch closely: repeated phrases, similar writing styles, or oddly similar-sounding names can be telltale signs that all the testimonials are fake.
They go even further with photos of people claiming dramatic weight loss. Just look at the nerve of these scammers!
On one such site, this man is “Stefan” from Germany who lost 18 kg. On another version of the same site, he’s “Esteban” who lost 17.5 kg.
This time, it’s “Kate, Katie, Katlijn, or Barbara” who lost anywhere from 10 to 16 kg.
Another popular trick: the “BEFORE / AFTER” scam.
You’re shown a “before” photo of someone slightly overweight and an “after” photo where they appear slim — supposedly after using the magic pill.
In many cases, the chronological order of the photos is reversed: the person was slim before and gained weight afterwards.
Slimming pill scams based on fake testimonials are everywhere (Photoshopped pictures, paid actors making spontaneous YouTube videos, etc.), but we track them down and systematically warn you when new methods emerge.
Thanks to Photoshop, this woman managed to lose weight instantly! So be VERY CAREFUL with fake testimonials and reviews about slimming pills!
You’ve probably seen sites showing images of a famous TV presenter supposedly revealing a miraculous slimming pill.
In France, the most exploited celebrity is Melissa Theuriau, journalist and presenter for LCI and M6, and wife of actor Jamel Debbouze. In the US, Oprah Winfrey’s name and image are often used without permission in fake ads.
Of course, these celebrities have nothing to do with the pills being sold — but many consumers trust them, thinking “IF IT’S ON TV, IT MUST WORK”.
These scam sites then offer the product, either as an EXCLUSIVE FREE TRIAL or with a supposedly irresistible discount.
By the time you realize it’s a scam, it’s too late. You’ve lost your money, wasted your time, and probably haven’t lost a single gram.
Some legitimate brands mention that celebrities use their products — but they do so with permission, clearly stating names and showing verified images or videos.
REMEMBER: TV presenters won’t mention a commercial product in the news unless it’s dangerous. They’re not giving out free ads!
So, if you see a site mentioning “BREAKING NEWS” or “AS SEEN ON TV”, it’s most likely a scam. Scammers exploit this confusion to trick you!
This is one of the latest tricks used by fake slimming pill sellers.
We’ve come across many sites pretending to be “scientific”, where so-called specialists explain the benefits of their slimming product using complicated terms you can’t understand.
These sites usually feature images of doctors and lab workers to make you believe the content is trustworthy.
It’s NOT!
Many of these so-called “experts” are actually freelancers paid to write pseudo-scientific articles full of impressive-sounding but meaningless jargon.
We even tracked down one of these “specialists” on a freelance site where he openly offers to write fake scientific content on demand.
So don’t trust these sites trying to confuse you with complicated scientific talk.
Finally, if a slimming pill website doesn’t clearly display its contact details, take that as a serious warning sign. If you can’t easily find an address on the homepage or contact page — move on!
Why do they hide their information?
To make it harder for you to reach them. They don’t want you chasing them for refunds, invoking money-back guarantees, or pursuing legal action.
Some scam sites even use the addresses of legitimate manufacturers — who only ship the products and aren’t responsible for the scam you fell for.
In short, IF THERE’S NO CONTACT INFORMATION on a slimming pill site (or any online store), it’s best to stay away.
Our goal is to expose scams like these and protect you from falling victim.
That’s why we’ve created a list of approved, trustworthy weight-loss pills, made and sold by companies that pass our strict tests and never resort to the shady techniques described above.
Scam Or Reliable: The independent and free reference for evaluating the reliability, effectiveness, and safety of online products. Our team of experts helps you form an objective opinion through rigorous analysis and authentic testimonials.
Its goal: Contribute to protecting consumers from online scams and misinformation by providing rigorous analyses and objective evaluations of products and services based on real, reliable testimonials from consumers.
Disclaimers: The information presented on this blog is for information purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional recommendations and should not be used to diagnose or treat specific problems. For specific advice, consult a qualified expert. We are not responsible for errors or inappropriate use of the information provided on this site. If you spot an inaccuracy, please notify us.